Illinois Newlyweds Share Their Love of Venerable Fulton Sheen With Pope Leo XIV

‘What better person to plead our cause to than the Holy Father himself?’​

For one newly married Catholic couple, a recent meeting with the first Illinois-born pope presented a spontaneous opportunity for the couple to express their devotion to another holy Illinoisan — Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen — and to plead with the Pope to help Sheen’s sainthood cause move forward.

Kristen and Austin Savage were married on June 7 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, Illinois.(Photo: Courtesy of Kristen and Austin Savage)

Kristen and Austin Savage were married on June 7 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, Illinois, and honeymooned afterward in Italy. Months before their wedding — in fact, before Pope Leo XIV was even elected — the Savages had obtained tickets to the June 11sposi novelliblessing, a tradition during the pope’s weekly Wednesday audiences whereby newly married couples can meet and receive a blessing from the Roman pontiff.

Speaking to Andrew Hansen on the podcastof the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, Dive Deep, the Savages said they were waiting at the Vatican with a group of dozens of other couples to see Pope Leo XIV, not expecting that they would get to actually converse with him.

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